TLDR: Alphabet had a wild ride this summer, killing some projects and delivering on empty promises. But maybe this recent strategy will prove to be for the best.
Long, hot summer days are filled with endless trips and fun. It’s also a big time for tech companies, as they prepare for what is coming in the fall. Google and their parent company Alphabet, have been in the news quite a bit this summer, so as the leaves begin to change, it’s time to take a look back at where the company now stands.
I/O 16: Getting sh*t on by birds
Let’s admit it, every techie wants to be a part of a big developer conference. Well… be careful what you wish for... Unlike previous years, Google opted out of hosting their annual developer conference at the Moscone West Center in San Francisco, and held it in the nearby outdoor Shoreline Amphitheatre. Filled with warm sun, live music, as well as major product announcements, I/O brought plenty of surprises to the table, including (wait for it): Sh*tting birds.
Because I/O was held outdoors, guests who seated towards the front of the keynote became susceptible to the elements, including those from the birds, who joined the conference by hanging off the wires suspended overhead.
Tony Fadell leaves Nest… and Google takes some employees
During Google I/O, the Mountain View company announced Google Home, a competitor to the Amazon Echo. Not long after Google I/O, the CEO of Nest Labs, Tony Fadell, stepped down from his position. Nest, a division of Alphabet, creates smart thermostats and security cameras for the home, controlled by phones or the Echo.
Obsessed with perfection, Fadell, who is referred to as “the father of the iPod,” had become the center of mass scrutiny in the media. Nest came under scrutiny as well, as the company began to fall into disarray and the users’ experience with the products began to crumble. Following his departure, Alphabet moved many engineers from the Nest team to the Google Home project, in what many have speculated may be the beginning of the end for Nest.
Google Fiber goes wireless, laying off hundreds of employees
According to the Wall Street Journal, Google Fiber, the company’s gigabit-speed Internet service, suspended projects in Portland and San Jose during the summer. Fiber, which first started in Kansas City in 2012, has reportedly cost hundreds of millions of dollars and has only launched in six U.S. cities. Reports say Google is aiming to bring down costs by relying on wireless technology, much in the way Vivint delivers Internet service to their customers. A couple of weeks later, it was reported that Alphabet’s CEO, Larry Page, demanded Fiber become more cost-efficient, causing half the Fiber team to get laid off.
A not-so-somber goodbye to modular phones
In a rather strange, yet somewhat expected move, sources told Reuters that Google has officially killed off Project Ara, the modular smartphone project that would allow users to upgrade parts of a phone at a time. More commonly known to the world as Phoneblocks, Google's announcement of the end of Project Ara came a surprise to many, but not to all. During Google I/O, the company announced they would be shipping a developer version in the fall, but later said the phone would originally be limited in what parts would be interchangeable. This came to an end in September when Google shut down Ara, but perhaps the project might not be completely dead in the water. As of this writing, Google is planning to work with partners to lease the Project Ara technology, in hopes of developing a modular phone.
The launch of Allo & Duo
During Google I/O, the Googs unveiled two new communication apps for chat and video, Allo and Duo. Designed to take on apps such as FaceTime and iMessage, both apps were released without issue, but failed to meet many tech reviewers’ standards, although the fault should not lie on Google entirely. At the end of the day, these remain chat apps, similar to Messenger, Line, and WhatsApp. The only difference is the integration of Google Assistant, which is Google’s new name for Google Now. The interfaces are nice and users of Allo have a choice to opt-in to end-to-end encryption for more sensitive matters. Although their success remains to be seen, this was a nice way to create buzz for the Google’s new Nexus er, Pixal phones next month.
